Digital euro pilot

In November 2025, the Eurosystem entered the current phase of preparatory work for the digital euro. It implemented technical and operational measures and intensified its cooperation with stakeholders across Europe. The Governing Council of the ECB will only decide whether to issue a digital euro once the relevant EU legislation has been adopted.¹

To ensure its technical readiness, the Eurosystem will carry out pilot activities. These will play an important role in preparing the European payments landscape for the potential introduction of the digital euro. They will also help the Eurosystem refine the digital euro’s functionality, user experience and technical design.

¹Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of the digital euro (COM/2023/369) and Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the provision of digital euro services by payment service providers incorporated in Member States whose currency is not the euro and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1230 of the European Parliament and the Council (COM/2023/368).
 

Participation in the pilot offers PSPs a unique opportunity to actively contribute to shaping the future of digital payments in Europe. Pilot PSPs will gain hands-on experience with the technical specifications of digital euro services. Moreover, they will also be able to provide feedback to the Eurosystem, which will help inform the continued technical development of the digital euro.

PSPs participating in the pilot are expected to actively support payments between individuals (person-to-person (P2P) payments) and/or payments between individuals and businesses (person-to-business (P2B) payments). The PSPs selected are a combination of:

• distributing PSPs (issuers of payment instruments): These providers act as the main point of contact for individual end users. Their responsibilities include onboarding individual end users, managing their pilot payment accounts and authorising transactions.
• acquiring PSPs (acquirers of payment instruments): These providers are responsible for onboarding business end users and operating acquiring services (i.e. processing card payments between consumers, merchants and banks). They also provide a solution facilitating contactless payment acceptance via mobile devices, such as smartphones, and manage automatic defunding to private money accounts held by business end users.

PSPs were able to apply as an issuer, an acquirer, or both. Selection was based on their capabilities and a pre-defined set of selection criteria. Additionally, the pool of PSPs selected was intended to ensure representative coverage of the euro area PSP market in terms of aspects including size, geographical coverage and market reach.

Being selected for the pilot does not grant the PSP any right vis-à-vis the Eurosystem for activities other than those related to the call for expression of interest to take part in the pilot.

No remuneration is paid to the PSPs for participating in the pilot.
 

The pilot is designed to thoroughly validate the technical, functional and operational readiness of the digital euro with a selected number of payment-service providers (PSPs).

As part of the pilot, real-world transactions will be carried out in a controlled environment with a limited number of individual and business end users, using a digital means of payment issued by the Eurosystem.¹

This digital means of payment is designed to resemble the digital euro as closely as possible from a technical perspective, but it will not take its legal form.

The pilot will combine on-site activities at Eurosystem central bank premises with remote interactions. These activities will reflect the typical scenarios and use cases being tested.

End users will have several options for accessing and using the pilot services, which must be supported by the providing PSP:

• End users will access the pilot services exclusively through an app, regardless of whether they are making or receiving payments.
• Distributing PSPs (issuers) may offer the pilot services either through an app provided by the Eurosystem or through their own app. Where both options are offered, end users will be free to choose their preferred app.
• Business end users (merchants) will be able to access the pilot services through solutions that turn a smartphone into a payment terminal (SoftPOS) as well as through dedicated web shops or apps for e-commerce and mobile commerce. These solutions will be provided by the merchant’s PSP (acquirer).

¹This digital means of payment is a Eurosystem liability vis-à-vis the users (i.e. Eurosystem staff) and would adhere to cashless payment transfer rules for PSPs, merchants and users. It would be considered to fall under the current definition of “funds” in the revised Payment Services Directive (Directive (EU) 2015/2366), in the form of scriptural money. “Scriptural money” means deposit balances held on an account at a credit institution or a central bank, or electronic money as defined in Article 1(3)(b) of Directive 2000/46/EC, as amended. The Eurosystem would credit users’ balances upon receipt of users’ funds (such as banknotes, coins or scriptural money). Stored digitally, this digital means of payment would feature technical and design elements similar to the digital euro under the draft regulation (Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of the digital euro (COM/2023/369 final)), enabling value transfers between payers and payees comparable to digital euro payment transactions. However, it would not have legal tender status, neither being in a physical form such as banknotes or coins nor constituting a bank account directly with the Eurosystem.
 

Person-to-person (P2P) payments – between private individuals

• Online P2P transactions using an alias¹ or digital means of payment access number²: The payer transfers funds to a payee (both are individual end users), initiating the transaction by entering the unique identifier of the payee into the app. The transaction can be completed even when payer and payee are in different locations. Because both devices are connected to the internet when the transaction is completed, this is considered an online payment.
• Offline P2P transactions using NFC: The payer transfers funds to a payee in the app (both are individual end users), when neither of the devices is connected to the internet. The payer initiates the transaction by entering the amount on their device. The transaction is completed by tapping the two devices together, allowing them to communicate via NFC. Since the transaction is completed without any internet connection, this is considered an offline payment.

Person-to-business (P2B) payments – between private individuals and businesses

• Online P2B transactions using NFC at SoftPOS (using a mobile device as a card terminal): The payer (individual end user) transfers funds to a payee (merchant) for the payment of goods and/or services through the app. The merchant initiates the transaction by entering the amount into the SoftPOS app. The transaction is completed by tapping the devices of the payer and the payee together, allowing them to communicate via NFC. Because both devices are connected to the internet when the transaction is completed, this is considered an online payment.
• Online e-commerce and mobile commerce transactions using an alias or access number: The payer (individual end user) transfers funds to a payee (merchant) for the payment of goods and/or services purchased through an e-commerce or mobile commerce platform. The payer initiates the transaction by selecting digital euro as the payment method on the merchant’s mobile website or app. If a default payment app is available, it will open automatically without requiring the payer to leave the merchant’s website or app, providing a seamless app-to-app redirect. If no default payment app has been set, the payer is redirected to their payment app. In that case, the payer enters their unique identifier (either an alias or a digital means of payment access number) into the merchant’s payment gateway. In both cases, the payer verifies merchant and payment details, and confirms, authenticates and authorises the transaction. The payer receives confirmation of the payment in both the payment app and the merchant’s website or app. Because both devices are connected to the internet when the transaction is completed, this is considered an online payment.

¹ A unique pseudonymous identifier used to protect the user’s identity when processing payments that can only be attributed to an identifiable natural or legal person by the payment service provider distributing the digital means of payment or by the digital means of payment user.

² The compulsory unique identifier of a digital means of payment account with technical and design elements similar to the digital euro access number under the proposed Regulation on the establishment of the digital euro.
 

In March 2026, the Eurosystem launched a call for expression of interest inviting European PSPs to participate in the digital euro pilot. The selected PSPs were published in July 2026. In September 2026, the Eurosystem launched further call for the expression of interest inviting merchants to participate in the digital euro pilot.  

During the application period, relevant documentation was shared, including a PSP application questionnaire, user journeys and end-to-end flows, as well as the PSP participation agreement. 

The pilot activities are scheduled to take place during the second half of 2027. The PSPs selected are expected to complete their preparatory work before the start of the pilot, which is planned to run for 12 months.

The pilot will be carried out in three phases: preparation, development and operation.

1. Pilot preparation phase: The call for expression of interest was published on the communication channels of the ECB and participating national central banks. The Eurosystem evaluated PSP applications based on eligibility and weighted evaluation criteria, and notified applicants of the selection outcome. Pre-selected PSPs received additional and updated documentation, including updated descriptions of specifications and implementation guidelines, enabling them to make an informed decision about participating in the pilot. To proceed to the next phase, pre-selected PSPs had to confirm their interest in participating and sign the participation agreement with their respective national central bank.
2. Pilot development phase: After completing the preparation phase, selected PSPs will work closely with the Eurosystem to develop required system enhancements. This process will follow an agile approach, with testing activities being coordinated by the Eurosystem.
3. Pilot operational phase: In the final phase, PSPs will support the implementation of the pilot in close cooperation with the Eurosystem. Their tasks will include ensuring the smooth operation of the pilot services, providing customer support to participating end users, and collecting feedback from end users.